"I didn't want a fashion parade," he muttered to the table before him. "A simple itemised list, would have sufficed."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
During lunch, the girls were excitedly telling the other girls about what they bought in hushed whispers that were obviously meant to exclude Harry and Neville. Neither boy was interested, so just talked between them.
On returning to the apartment after lunch, all three girls headed directly for Fleur's room.
"Out in a minute!" called Daphne. "Don't go anywhere!"
Harry sat back, sighed, then leaned forward and packed up the assignments he was working on before lunch into a neat pile.
It appeared he was going to get that fashion parade, after all.
Ten minutes later, Hermione came out wearing a wizarding outfit he'd not seen her wearing before. It was upmarket casual, but of lighter material. Clearly, more autumnal for the warming temperatures.
She walked over and did a slow twirl for him with a wide grin. "You like?"
"Yes," he firmly replied. "The colours definitely suit you. And I like the fit, too."
She gave a happy nod back and turned back to the doors of the girls' bedrooms, "Next," she called.
Out came Daphne, wearing a very similar number. "I hope you don't mind?" she asked. "It was a little expensive."
"Not at all," he replied. And, he didn't. "It looks very nice on you. Are you happy with it?"
She grinned and nodded.
"Next!" called Hermione, again.
This time Fleur came out wearing a plain Hogwarts witches' uniform without House affiliation. Even her tie was the flat black with the small Hogwarts crest of an unsorted student. However, she wasn't wearing long socks or low heeled shoes. Harry could see the slight sheen of stockings on her legs and her feet were in plain black high heels with covered toe, sides and heel. Harry later learned they were called 'mid-heel pumps', as they weren't considered high heels because the heel wasn't as high as some arbitrary 'set' benchmark.
That's when he looked to both Hermione and Daphne and noticed similar footwear.
To Hermione, he happily said, "You've bought your high heels and stockings!"
Clearly pleased he'd noticed, she grinned back and said, "Yes, thank you."
When he stood and walk closer, he noticed she was now not as short as him in comparison. Her head now came up to about the bridge of his nose. The height difference between he and Daphne hadn't changed, as she'd been wearing mid heels since well before he had his potion-induced growth spurt. However, it now appeared Hermione was visibly taller than Daphne and about the same height as Fleur.
"Next," Hermione suddenly said, and led the other two back to Fleur's room.
For the next hour or so the three girls gave him a full fashion parade. Harry was actually surprised by how much they bought, especially Hermione.
He also found out a little later it was Daphne that had put her foot down about the minimal wardrobe Hermione had, to that time, of witches' wear and practically ordered the girl to greatly increase the size of it right then and there. Hermione was not prepared to listen until Daphne explained how it made Harry look like a 'knut-pinching bastard' if she didn't have a wide and various wardrobe. She didn't want to do it for herself, but she'd do it for Harry; and Daphne knew that and played on it. She wasn't a Slytherin for nothing.
He mentally doffed his hat to the girl, because even he couldn't get Hermione to buy a lot more. She still had some self-esteem issues regarding her appearance, but Harry's love for her was clear. It was what others thought of her appearance that still gave her issues.
After the fashion parade, the girls all disappeared back into Fleur's room for a while. Then Hermione and Daphne came out and sat either side of Harry. Both appeared quite serious.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing," said Hermione.
"However," said Daphne, "Fleur needs you to accept her through a special ceremony for Veela. For her, Harry, you need to go with this; alright?"
"Ummm." he stuttered. "I'm not ready f-for―"
"This isn't sex, Harry," said Hermione. "It's an acceptance ceremony that relates to the life debt. Please, just go with it."
Warily, he nodded and said, "Alright. I trust you both."
With a breath of relief, Hermione said, "Thank you." Then she got back to her feet and went to Fleur's room. Daphne stayed sitting beside him.
"Relax, Harry," she said. "You are just to affix a special ribbon around her neck. This is for her protection. It means no other male, but you, is allowed to touch her."
He took a deep breath, firmed up and said, "If it's for her protection, I can do this."
She smiled back, pleased. She knew Harry would accept it if she used the magic word, 'protection'.
A long moment later, Hermione came back out leading Fleur. Instead of being properly clothed and looking confident, Fleur was dressed in an almost gauzy, sleeveless one-shouldered toga Harry was later told was called a chiton from Ancient Greece, the believed original home of the Veela people. And a pair of plain leather sandals that laced up to almost under her knees.
Through the chiton, Harry could see she was naked underneath. Though covered, he could see that her nipples were of lighter than normal colouration, as Hermione described the differences back at her place, and that her pubic hair was the same blonde as the hair on her head. She also appeared to be carrying a small cushion of a rich blue colour with something on it.
Harry immediately blushed, looked away and tensed, but Daphne tightened her grip on his arm to signal he was to remain where he was and whispered, "Be at ease, Harry. She needs this ceremony."
Hermione led a head-bowed Fleur around to stand before him. As soon as Fleur was about three to four feet in front of him, she lowered herself to her knees, before resting back on her heels with her hands holding before her chest the small blue cushion. Harry could see the object on the cushion was a three-quarter inch wide rose pink silk ribbon, with the Potter crest in gold on a black background in the form of a small metal pendant, medallion, affixed.
She softly said, "Harrison James of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, I, Fleur Isabel of the Venerable House of Delacour, come before you in supplication. Through chivalrous act, you saved my life and caused between us a life debt to be formed. My life is yours, my body is yours, my soul is yours. I humbly entreat you accept me - life, body and soul - into your hands, so I may live."
Daphne whispered into his ear, "Say, 'I, Harrison James of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter...'"
Harry repeated it.
"... accept you, Fleur Isabel of the Venerable House of Delacour..."
Again.
"... into my hands."
Again.
"... Your life, your body, your soul are mine, so you may live."
And finished.
Daphne next whispered into his ear, "Take the ribbon and affix it around her neck, Harry."
Harry bent forward and did just that, plucking the ribbon off the cushion and, bending further forward so he could reach, used the clasp sections on each end of the ribbon to affix the ribbon together behind her neck. He even felt the two halves of the clasp almost pulling toward one another, until there was an almost snap sound and a muted flash of pink light from the ribbon.
As Harry finished the act and sat back, Fleur raised her head and smiled at him. "Thank you," she softly said. Then she pressed back up onto her knees, as if in prayer, and leaned forward, raising her head slightly.
Harry didn't know why he was urged to do so, but he just leaned forward to meet her and kissed her, long and deeply. He didn't know both of them glowed a little because his eyes were closed.
When she pulled back, she smiled again and rose to her feet. Then walked away, back towards her room.
Daphne immediately leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, before she pulled back and whispered, "Well done, Harry." Then she rose and hurried after Fleur.
A smiling Hermione, who had been standing back behind and off to one side of Fleur as the ceremony/ritual took place, stepped forward, bent over to him and also kissed him on the cheek. As she, too, pulled away with a smile, she allowed her hand to come up and lovingly caress his cheek for a moment, before she, too, followed Fleur to her room.
She called over her shoulder, "We'll be back in a couple minutes."
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